Vacuum-trap.



A. OLSON.

VACUUM TRAP.

APPLICATION H LED ram/26,1915.

1,228,128. Patented May 29, 1917'.

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ANDREW OLSON,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VACUUM-TRAP.

Application filed May 26, 1915. Serial No. 30,655.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW OLSON, a citi- I Zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vacuum-Traps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a vacuum trap for use in low pressure steam hea-ting systems.

The object of the inventionvis to provide a device of this kind in which, Vwhen the heating system is cold; as for instance in the morning, a pump may be applied to remove the air from the system and thus start the system to working, the passages through which said air escapes being, however, automatically closed as soon as the system is in vworking order, thus doing `away with the waste which would occur were 'steamallowed to pass through the passageway throughout the operation of the plant, as has, in the past, been necessary when air is thus eifectively removed.

The invention consists in a device capable of carrying out the foregoing objects, which can be very easily and cheaply made and installed, which is satisfactoryin operation, and not readily liable to get out of order. More in detail, it consists in providing a water trap device for use in the system, the same being provided with a bypass through which air or a mixture of air and steam may be pumped on starting the system, saidv by-pass being provided with a thermostatic valve which will close as soon as the system warms up, and the further necessity of pumping air is removed, a special feature being the location of the valve in the removable lever device so it is readily removable Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patentedllllay 29., 1917.

Fig. 8 is a sectional'plan view on the line 3 3, of Fig. v1.

Fig. 4 is a sectionalview on the line 4-4, l

of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view on 5-5, of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the cover taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

.As is well understood in the art, each radiator in a heating system of. this kind is provided with a trap-valve device which successively closes to'retain the steam in the radiator until condensation takes place and then opens to let the water of condensation out. The drawingshere show such a device inclosed in a case 10, connected at 12 to the radiator and at 14 to a discharge pipe. Inside this case 10 is afloat 16 operating a lever 18 pivotedat 2O so thatits opposite end controls a valve 22 entering discharge pipe 14. en theparts areinthe position lof Fig. 1, water of condensation 24 is present and has raised the float 16to open the valve 22 and thus allow a continuous flow of water through the valve 22. When the water `he line runs out of the float chamber in case 10l tol such an extent that the float settles to the positions of Fig. 2, it closes the valve 22, with the result that the steam is-retained in the radiator until condensation again takes place. nWhenl the plant is cold, as in the morning, air collects in the top of the float chamber and locks the device so that steam cannot enter and operate the device until the air is removed. It is to remove this air in fthe upper portion of this float chamber that this invention is provided.V

In order to accomplish the desired result, the removable cover 26 of the float chamber is provided with a central valve chamber 28 having a port or passageway 30 in its bottom communicating with the radial passageway 32, and the curved passageway 34 in the top of the device, the latter-connecting with the downwardly extending passageway 3.8, in the side of the ca se10, having 'a discharge port 40 entering the discharge pipe 14 below the valve 22. In the chamber 28 and above the portl 32 there .is mounted, by any suitable means, a thermostatic valve member 42 adapted, when the parts are cold, to, as shown in Fig. 2, leave the port 30 and connected passageways open but adapted to expand and, as shown in Fig. l, close said port 30 as soon as the device becomes heated by the entry of steam, access to chamber 28 from the float chamber being provided by a port or passageway 44. t

In the operation of the device, when the system is cold, as shown in Fig. 2, and a pump is applied to the discharge passage 14, the air in the float chamber is drawn through passage 44 into chamber 28 and thence under valve 42 through port 30 and passageway 32, 34, 38 and discharge port 40 into discharge passage 14; in other words, it is drawn entirely out of the s stem. As soon as the steam begins to co e through the radiator controlled by the device, its temperaturev necessarily heats the entire valve case 10 including its cover and the valve member 42 with the result that the valve moves to the position of Fig. l, thus closing the by-pass described and doing away with the waste which would occur were the steam and air in the system allowed to pass all day long through the by-pass.

The location of the thermostatic valve device in the removable cover located at the top of the case has two special advantages; iirst, that the air to be eliminated naturally rises and therefore reaches the valve most easily when located in the top cover and vsecond, the cover being removable allows for easy cleaning of the passageways leading to the valve and the valve itself.

Especial attention is 'called to the fact that valve 22 is so located that it opens with the vacuum or by the pull of the pump applied to discharge port 14. Because of this fact, it is not necessary to balance this valve as in prior constructions.

Having thus described invention, what' I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a device of the character described, the combination of a casing including a' removable cover, an inlet and a discharge port in the casing, a valve controlling the discharge port, a float in the casing controlling said valve, a by-pass from the interior of the casing to the discharge side of said valve, said by-pass comprising a channel located wholly within the walls of the cover and side of the casing, and a thermostatic valve seated in the removable cover and adapted to open and close the by-pass substantially as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW OLSON. Witnesses:

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER, MAX'S. RosENzwEIG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve'cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. C. 

